Auto Supply Firm Fined $10,000 for Spill

A Santa Paula automotive supply company has been ordered to pay more than $10,000 in fines for allowing a “dark, odorous liquid” that turned out to be petroleum solvent and waste oil to flow down a gutter toward a storm drain.

Crews cleaned up the unspecified amount of hazardous waste on Dec. 19, 1995, before it entered the South Hallock Drive storm drain, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Mitchell F. Disney.

Automotive Supply Co. of Southern California will pay a $10,000 fine and $789.44 to the Ventura County Environmental Health Department for investigative and response costs.

The spill occurred just eight days after the county cited the company for illegally storing hazardous waste in unlabeled, uncovered 55-gallon containers, Disney said. The spill apparently involved a substance contained in one of those barrels, he said.

County inspector Ines Gonzalez happened upon the spill while conducting a routine inspection of an unrelated facility and tracked the spill back to its source.

Automotive Supply Co. will also be required to train its employees in the proper disposal of hazardous wastes.